Thailand Devastated with Destruction

Monday, 27 December 2004

Some people have emailed to see if I am okay. Just wanted everyone to know that I am fine. The southern beach area and Phuket is a 45 minute plane ride, or over a 12 hour car ride away from where I am. In addition, I live pretty inland within Central Thailand, not near any beaches or coastline. Christy and her parents were visiting the area this weekend, but luckily were in the city yesterday, out of harm's way. The tsunamis did however kill hundreds in Thailand, and thousands elsewhere. I called my friend Na to make sure her brother was okay, as he owns a business and lives in Phuket. But he was fine. My friend Linda's husband has family who lives down there, and last night, one was in the hospital and one was still missing. I heard today that even the princess' son died, while jetskiing during vacation on Phuket Island. Bhumi Jensen is the son of the king's eldest daughter, Princess Ubolratana, who gave up some of her royal privileges after marrying a foreign commoner.

I was planning on going to Phuket with Na and Jun's (my student) family next weekend for New Year's, but now I am not. Friends that are visiting from Seattle in mid-February want to go there to kayak and relax on the beach, but some people right now are saying the area will not be able to recuperate for at least six months to a year. One of the islands, Ko Phi Phi, where I want to go to, and Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Beach" movie was filmed, was hit hard; I read that over 200 bungalows at a beach resort were washed away by the tsunami. We may have to change our plans to head to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand, on the other side, which were not affected by this tragedy.

Just like many of you, I am trying to follow the news on CNN and on the internet. It's just awful; there were hardly any warning signs (as the countries bordering the Indian Ocean have not used any warning systems before - had they done so, they may have been able to warn other countries like Thailand that tsunamis were coming), and so many lives were taken within a matter of twenty minutes. Christy and her parents should be arriving in Nakhon Pathom any minute now to enjoy the rest of their vacation before they head back to Seattle. Christy would have been on the beach that morning had they not had to rush off to the hospital to take her mom for a concussion she apparently gotten the day before. It was indeed a blessing in disguise, as luckily, they were all in the town of Phuket, and not on the beach, when the tsunamis hit. They said it was like a movie, as they left the hospital and hundreds of people were in the lobby with broken bones and hurt from the tsunamis. They, and their luggage, were escorted via medical vehicles (all the taxis were taken!) to the airport, which was not departing any planes. They were put into safety zones on higher ground as they anticipated another tsunami on its way. They said that even though there were no warning systems in place, all the local Thais were calm, cool, and collected and got people where they needed to be in safety without chaos. All the airlines passed out their airplane food and water to people waiting in the airport. But, they are now safe here in Nakhon Pathom and just wonder about all the devastation to the area. They'll probably want to rest after all of the excitement they've had so far! Christy's parents have been checking online and trying to contact the place they stayed at in Ko Lanta to see if they are okay, but looking at the map, it most likely got hit by the tsunamis as well.

Families and staff here are talking about all the damage and the losses of lives, especially mourning the loss of the King's grandson (The royal family is highly revered.). Take care, and thanks for your emails!